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Illinois

* The setup…

Minnesota’s state government shutdown is causing a big problem for brewing giant MillerCoors. The state has told MillerCoors it needs to pull its products from stores, bars and restaurants statewide because of a licensing problem caused by the shutdown.

Department of Public Safety spokesman Doug Neville said Wednesday that MillerCoors’ “brand label registrations” with the state have expired. The employees who process renewals were laid off when state government shut down July 1 in a budget dispute.

Neville says Chicago-based MillerCoors LLC has been told to come up with a plan for pulling its products in a few days.

* The Question: With this latest development, can Illinois finally shed its image as the most screwed up state in the nation?

Snark is heavily encouraged, of course.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:38 am

Comments

I dunno; extra sobriety might help fix Minnesota’s problems, while our problems just make themselves worse.

Comment by Elo Kiddies Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:42 am
No, the Illinois GOP, which roots for our state to lose, will find a way to laud the Minnesota GOP for sticking to its guns and bringing the state to its knees much like they want to do with the country.

I am sure they will issue a press release comparing Governor Dayton to Governor Quinn.

Not sure if its the snark you are looking for but its honest.

Comment by wndycty Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:44 am
Laid off and can’t get a beer because you were laid off. Yikes!

Comment by Way Way Down Here Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:46 am
Minnesotans can’t enjoy the High Life because the state paper pushers were laid off due to the state shutdown, but meanwhile oh thank goodness, the Public Safety flack is still on the job?

So, yes, I believe that firmly plants Minnesota atop the midseason leader board of most screwed up state.

But I’m sure we’ll make a strong second half charge. We’re not out of it yet.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:47 am
No, we still have the Cubs!

Comment by Nuance Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:53 am
Thank god I live in Illinois, but I guess it depends on who you ask.

Wall Street probably rues Minnesota…no government means no borrowing.

On the other hand, Wall Street loves Illinois, with its non-stop borrowing, and it hundreds of millions (if not billions) in interest payments.

Illinois is music to the ears of the fat cats.

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:00 pm
The blog proprietor should check the Twins-Sox season series results before answering this question.

Comment by Reality Check Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:08 pm
Rocky would never let this happen here….

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:09 pm
Reminds me of a bit a comedian once did with an audience member:

Comic: “What do you do, Dave?”

Dave: “I’m a Public Licensing Renewal Claims Processor”

Comic: “Okay, that’s your title, but what do you DO?”

Dave: “Um, er…”

Comic: “What would have to happen for someone to say ‘Oh crap, go get Dave!!’”

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:10 pm
Nah, Quinn works hard at keeping Illinois’ proud label of most screwed up every single day.

Newsflash — Minnesota has decided to change their state motto, “Star of the North”, to reflect this latest development. New motto, “Sober in the North”.

Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:11 pm
All Twins fans must leave immediately.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:16 pm
Seen on a Minnesota post,

“No Taxation without Libation!”

Comment by Bigtwich Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:18 pm
Once sober, the entire State will wonder, in unison: “We elected Jessie “the body” Ventura Governor !?!”

Comment by I don't want to live in Teabagistan Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:19 pm
If this is one of the more important crisis in Minnesota caused by the government shutdown, they should merge with Wisconsin and then we could lose the title.

Comment by Nuance Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:20 pm
wow, 10,000 lakes and only bud products during the summer. I’m buying stock.
At least all of our elected officials know not to mess with people’s beer.

Comment by frustrated GOP Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:24 pm
No, but the Central Division is getting tougher. If Minnesota had Brett Favre as governor, they could be competitive. Wisconsin is deep in the Supreme Court, although it seems like the GOP could use Clay Matthews to improve their tackling. In Illinois, Quinn governs like Lovie Smith coaches - can’t stand to watch it, and it will never be over. Michigan, I think, will have a rebuilding year in the face of this competition.

Comment by Excessively Rabid Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:28 pm
Let’s see, they have Garrison Keillor, Al Franken and Jesse Ventura. We have Oprah, the Belushi brothers, and Blago.

Hmmm…. that’s a tough one, but I’d have to give Minnesota the nod based on the fact that at least Illinois hasn’t (yet) elected any SNL alums or pro wrestlers to public office.

Comment by Secret Square Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:29 pm
No, because in Minnesota the brewer can go to court, probably federal becausethe state courts are shut, and obtain a speedy injunction to stop this nonsense. In Illinois, the brwer would be required to pay off the governor, two state senators, four state reps and six officials, besides making a heavy donation to operation Push, before being allowed to go to court.

Comment by Cook County Commoner Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:33 pm
You mean to say that state employees actually perform valuable services to society including the facilitation of commerce as a whole?

Who woulda thunk it?!!!

Michelle: Bite me…

Comment by Loop Lady Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:37 pm
What’d I do to you, today?

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:44 pm
==The employees who process renewals were laid off when state government shut down July 1 in a budget dispute.==

And the last one out the door on June 30 sent Miller an email telling them their registration had expired, turned off the lights, then left. MN is still ahead of us — in IL, the employee would have spent the last 3 days “on the job” out picketing.

Comment by Pat Robertson Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:50 pm
Stuff like this helps to ’shed the image’.

Indiana News
Judge wants legally blind driver off the road
at: http://tinyurl.com/6dzsctv

Comment by sal-says Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:51 pm
Sounds like Yossarinan in Catch 22

Yon deed a permit to operate and your permit has expired, but there is no one to process your permit due to a tax dispute. Youmust stop commerce which would generat the money you covet. Only a government would be so silly

Comment by Plutocrat03 Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 12:56 pm
If it was good beer that might help, but eliminating Miller/Coors from Illinois shelves might do everyone a favor.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:00 pm
No .. but give Quinn time he will regain the crown.

Comment by WazUP Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:02 pm
Minnesota’s new plan to stop underage drinking: Get rid of nasty tasting beers.

Comment by Timmeh Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:03 pm
Or Quinn would go on and on about how MN is so bad because it doesn’t have Miller lite then 3 months later say Illinois can’t handle it’s beer and require 3/2 beer only be sold in the state.

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:04 pm
Also what if Miller’s plans to get it off the shelves was to have a massive sale and/or give it away?

Comment by OneMan Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:05 pm
“Hmmm…. that’s a tough one, but I’d have to give Minnesota the nod based on the fact that at least Illinois hasn’t (yet) elected any SNL alums or pro wrestlers to public office.”

No contest. Here in IL, we have more than sufficient candidates to make a “Public Officials Convicted Felons” hall of fame…

Let’s see those Minnesota lightweights top that….

Comment by Judgment Day Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:05 pm
Correction: “…bantamweights…”

Comment by Judgment Day Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:07 pm
Considering IL spends the taxpayers dollars to send ethics investigators out to investigate departmental potluck Christmas lunches at state agencies, it isn’t any wonder we are broke.

Comment by Merry Christmas Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:29 pm
=== All Twins fans must leave immediately.===

Does this mean they will have to to IL motels in until the crisis is over?

Comment by Kerfuffle Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:32 pm
So, if Miller loses its permit because there is no one to renew it, and MN asks Miller to submit its plan for pulling its products, who is going to be on the job to review said plan?

Illinois can’t quite shed its image, but other states sure are trying like heck to topple us.

Comment by TwoFeetThick Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:33 pm
When it’s time to relax
One beer stands clear, beer after beer
Miller tastes too good, to hurry through
If you got the time (and don’t live in Minnesota)
We’ve got the beer, Miller Beer

Comment by Jaded Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:33 pm
This is a very, very simple problem to solve.

Send 2 dozen Packer fans to Minnesota. All the beer will be gone in an hour.

Comment by Ghost of John Brown Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:35 pm
The shutdown also affects tobacco and all alcohol. Vendors can’t get tax stamps for cig’s or get their liquor buying permits renewed.

Comment by Dinsdale Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:36 pm
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/125459928.html

Comment by Dinsdale Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:40 pm
Illegal Miller/Coors beer being sold and distributed in the Twin Cities? Where’s Carrie Nation and Elliot Ness and his Untouchables when they’re needed?

Comment by Hunterdon Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:44 pm
Illinois should try to lure the company to bring all operations to Illinois.

Comment by wow Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 1:48 pm
My brother used to tell the story of a frequent occurrence during his time as a private contractor for the defense department’s communications network.

Routinely, he’d call up an air base to run a diagnostic on a piece of equipment, and the poor airman who answered didn’t know his stuff and would claim they didn’t have any such equipment.

My brother would them give them his phone number.

“What do I need your phone number for?”

“Because in about five minutes, I’m going to disconnect service to your equipment. When it stops working, call me…that’s the machine I was talking about.”

Worked every time.

Speaking of which, the cynic in me wonders if the long delay in getting power restored in Illinois isn’t somehow related to ComEd’s push for smart meters.

Nothing makes you appreciate the power company like the lights going out.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:05 pm
==Nothing makes you appreciate the power company like the lights going out.==

No kidding, it’s Day 3 up here in Waukegan, most have no electricity, cell towers and cable out. Lake County Board finally declared a state of emergency. Thank God my seperate Internet connection still works.

Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:15 pm
Now Miller-Coors understands what it is like to be a public employee.

Comment by Liberty First Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:16 pm
Sorry, “separate”

Comment by Wensicia Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:17 pm
It may be dangerous to suggest in this blog thread, but why did Miller coors wait until the very last minute to renew their license? They obviously heard about the impending shut down of state government. would it not make sense to get their renewal in a little early? Maybe that is asking too much of management?

Comment by One of the 35 Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:19 pm
Guess this means all the state inspectors for food, drugs, restaurant, license, and car/truck are all also out. Wait until McDonalds and all the restaurants/grocery stores have to close because of out of date state reviews/permits. Talk about a state living on the edge.

Comment by zatoichi Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:26 pm
Well, it is good that they are very particular about who gets paid because you wouldn’t want to lay off people like the Gov’s Chef. He is far more important than somebody who brings in the state revenue. The Gov had to choose between eating and drinking and he chose to eat.

http://www.freep.com/article/20110712/NEWS07/107120333/Many-Minn-go-without-pay-not-gov-s-chef

Comment by K3_Spfld_Chi Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:33 pm
====would it not make sense to get their renewal in a little early?===

In reading other stories about this, it doesn’t appear that they were allowed to renew early.

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:44 pm
I see a burt Reynolds movie in this. “Geezer the bandit” runs a shipment of coors beer out of Minn in time for the gates to close, shutting down the state, into a crowd of North Dakota beer drinkers saying something like Ah Geeze there, hay, you betcha we got a lot of beer there to drink. Or the democratic party of Iowa can sponsor a beer fest the same days as the straw pool and of free beer to anyone that comes.

Comment by frustrated GOP Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:52 pm
“Guess this means all the state inspectors for food, drugs, restaurant, license, and car/truck are all also out. Wait until McDonalds and all the restaurants/grocery stores have to close because of out of date state reviews/permits. Talk about a state living on the edge.”

No, it just means the permits are out of date. And of course, when the state inspections finally do get around to those inspections, they will violate the business establishments for having expired licenses and permits.

Ain’t it wonderful.

On a slightly related topic, I always remember last year (around September, 2010) going to a UIC admin building and getting on an elevator inspected routinely by the City of Chicago, where the expiration date on the certificate was January, 2008. I’m sure they were busy doing something…. Oh, well….

And then there was (more than one, actually) neighborhood establishment that had not been inspected by the Chicago Department of Health sanitarians for like 4 YEARS! (supposed to be twice a year, per their own code). Oh, well….

Comment by Judgment Day Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 2:58 pm
It’s a non-story compared to typical every day Illinois shenanigans.

Comment by Benny Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 3:46 pm
Hmm. Something tells me Budweiser is behind this. The Official Beer Sponsor of the Minnesota Government Meltdown.

Comment by Jake From Elwood Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 4:17 pm
I’ve got two ex-governors in the pen, roads that are crumbling to pieces and a budget that bears no relationship to reality… Am I living the High Life?

– MrJM

Comment by MrJM Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 5:17 pm
Oddly enough, I have a feeling that Minnesota wouldn’t be going through a shutdown if Gov. Ventura was still in office. For all his faults, I think he would have cared enough for the greater good of the state not to let the train wreck happen, and reached some sort of a budget deal with the GOP-controlled legislature.

We’d better all hope that some semblance of reason is found in DC soon, as a federal default would make Minnesota’s train wreck look like a fender-bender. How many people remember double-digit interest rates in the early 1980s, and all the misery that went with it?

Comment by cover Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 5:45 pm
’sqetoes and deer flies are extatic!

Comment by railrat Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 6:17 pm
Minnesota the land of the dull will hardly notice.

Comment by mokenavince Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 7:44 pm
====would it not make sense to get their renewal in a little early?===

===In reading other stories about this, it doesn’t appear that they were allowed to renew early.====

hey did send it early but wrote the check for to much. it was considered not filed and returned minus the first check. the refile (with new check) was not received by the state in time. now they can’t operate in the state and have two checks sitting in someone’s in box.

Comment by belagarth Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 8:12 pm
Seriously, no.
Minnesota already did this just a few years ago, and it did not tarnish their image compared to what we have been going through in Illinois. Obviously state government shut downs are really not a big deal to most people enough to bother remembering them.

We would have been better off if this state government shut down for the past decade.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 8:44 pm
it is minn, does anyone really care does the rest of the country really notice what happens in the states that border canada?

Comment by frustrated GOP Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 10:15 pm
Mokenavince:

I think the dull people of Minnesota will notice the absence of dull Miller Lite. As a matter of fact, the exodus of dull white Christians that will ensue is part of Rep. Ellison’s plan to establish sharia law in Minnesota.

Until Blago is locked up, we are still more screwed up.

Comment by Quizzical Wednesday, Jul 13, 11 @ 11:19 pm
Let’s see…. MN was short a $$ Billion or so. Illinois is somewhere from 12-14 billion in the hole. MN can use the extra time to fix up their weekend lake cabins, but don’t you think that IL has a much bigger problem to deal with? “Miller time is coming to Illinois!”

Comment by Top of the State Thursday, Jul 14, 11 @ 8:11 am
Pretenders. Rank amateurs. The IL GA are the pros. They get as much done as if they’re shut down, but still get paid.

Comment by Sideline Observer Thursday, Jul 14, 11 @ 8:31 am
This is actually great news.

Watered down Miller Lite is out. Real Beers like Schlitz , Pabst , Schmidts , and Grain Belt are back. And , of course, that pioneering Minnesota original Glute Stite malt liquor.

Happy Days are here again.

Comment by x ace Thursday, Jul 14, 11 @ 8:38 am
There is nothing but High Life that I would miss. Maybe Coors Banquet. But I would have Grain Belt Premium and a leaner liberal government in MN. Nope - Illinois is still King of the Losers in that match up.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Jul 14, 11 @ 9:29 am